Byzantine & Ottoman Relics (Full Day Walking Tour – Lunch Included)

Tour information

Byzantine & Ottoman Relics (Full Day Walking Tour – Lunch Included)

Hippodrome, the center of sport activities with its four monuments; The German Fountain of Wilhelm II, Egyptian Obelisk, Serpentine Column and the Column of Constantine.

The Blue Mosque; the most famous mosque of Istanbul which is known as Blue Mosque because of its beautiful blue Iznik tiles.– Visit is not possible on Friday due to limited access of the Friday Prayer)
St. Sophia; this ancient basilica, built by Constantine the Great, in 4th century and reconstructed by Justinian in the 6th century, is one of the architectural marvels of all time.– St. Sophia closed on Monday, replaced with Underground Cistern

Grand Bazaar (Covered Market); in this labyrinth of streets and passages are more than 4000 shops with each trade having its own area; the goldsmiths’ street, the carpet sellers, Turkish arts and crafts, such as hand painted ceramic plates, hand-honed copperware, brassware and trays, water ewers, onyx ware and meerschaum pipers.(Grand Bazaar is closed on Sunday)

LUNCH (Drinks are extra)

Sultans Tombs; there are five tombs of Ottoman Sultans within the graveyard at St. Sophia. The ceramic panels are the most beautiful examples of the 16th century with purple, green, blue, and red flower motives. Prince robes and a small piece from the Kaaba covers are displayed on the sarcophaguses.(Sultans Tombs closed on Monday, replaced with Little Hagia Sophia Mosque)

Topkapi Palace; the great palace of the Ottoman sultans from 15th to 19th centuries, housing an exquisite collection of precious gems, jewelry thrones of sultans, costumes worn by the sultans and their families, miniatures, the Holy Mantle; Chamber of Sacred Relics. (Harem is not included in the program, extra entrance fee applicable – Topkapi Palace closed & this tour is not operated on Tuesday)

Aqueduct of Valens & Obelisk of Theodosius are also visional during the tours.

Included Services:

✓ Hotel pick up & drop off by air-conditioned non-smoking tour coaches✓ Lunch✓ Entrance fees✓ Professional licensed tour guide✓ Service charges✓ All local taxes✓ No hidden or extra costs

Excluded Services:

✖ Drinks
✖ Personal expenses.
✖ Tips and gratitue

1

Byzantine and Ottoman Relics ( Old City Tour )

After having breakfast at the hotel, we will explore the wonderful sites of Old Istanbul, the only city in the world straddling two continents, Europe and Asia. We will visit the Blue Mosque, with its six graceful minarets and famed blue Iznik Tiles, the Hippodrome, ancient Roman arena for chariot racing and Grand Bazaar with its more than 4,000 shops. We will then visit The Topkapi Palace, which from the 15th to the 19th Century was the principle residence of the Ottoman Sultans. We will visit the fabulous Imperial Treasury and the Baghdad Kiosk. Topkapi Palace is now a museum and has unrivaled collections of jewelry, including the Spoonmakers Diamond, the 3rd largest diamond in the world, Ottoman court costumes and ceramics, notably one of the worlds finest collection of early Chinese ceramics, much of it gifts from other rulers. Interestingly, some of the ceramics have a special glaze that was said to change color in the presence of poison. We also visit the Imperial Armory, displaying centuries of Ottoman weaponry. But perhaps the loveliest features of Topkapi Palace are its courtyards with their ancient trees, and it is easy to imagine the sultan strolling here far from the cares of state and empire. We will then proceed to The Suleymaniye Mosque, which is the largest and grandest of Istanbulu0027s imperial mosques. It dates from the 16th Century heyday of the Ottoman Empire, and was designed by Sinan, the greatest architect of his day and originator of the Classical Ottoman style of architecture. Of the 2,000 structures Sinan designed, Suleymaniye Mosque and its complex of charitable institutions rank among the most important. Finally, we will then visit the museum Haghia Sophia* and the Church of The Divine Wisdom. After the tour, we will return to your hotel. End of our Services.

We used TAFY Tours during our recent med cruise, we booked semi private tours with other passengers on our cruise. We dealt with Volkan who was extremely helpful. We enjoyed 2 excellent tours starting with Istanbul and a few days later Kusadasi. Istanbul is a very vibrant city and we loved the whole experience our guide was very knowledgable and was great with the kids, we are looking to returning as the whole experience which ended with the Spice Bazaar was just incredible. The tour of Kusadasi included a few hours in a very hot Ephesus followed by a visit to a water park, a great combination in the height of summer. Great guides and very well planned days. Highly recommended.

Tayf Tours arranged our trips to Istanbul, Cappadocia, Mykonos, Santorini and Athens. All pick-ups/drop-offs and guided tours were set! All we had to do was obtain our international flight to Istanbul. Azize organized all of these things via email/phone and we are forever grateful for her professionalism, kindness and patience! There is a 24/7 contact phone number we had to use once (minor issue) and a live person answered at 4am local time and took care of things! Thank you for helping us create wonderful memories! I’ve already recommended Tayf Tours to my friends and will certainly use their services in the future!

We used Tayf Tours for private (just the two of us) full-day tours in both Istanbul and Ephesus. We could have easily booked excursions through our cruise line; however, at the suggestion of our travel agent, we chose to book through Tayf Tours and we are so glad we did. From the vehicle to the tour guide – everything was perfectly wonderful! Highly recommend!!!

The visit to Istanbul Old City was certainly one of the high lights of our Turkey holiday. Our guide, was knowledgeable and pleasant and she allowed us adequate time to explore the site at our own pace. We enjoyed that as we sometimes felt very rushed with other excursions we did.

I had a last min changes for my travel which I choose Istanbul as my destination n luckily I found this tour on the website n without a second thought booked the tours.. It was really good would like to suggests my friends if they wanna visit Istanbul it’s worth it.thanks volkanSandeep K
New Delhi,
India

Contact Information

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